


Gamer Parents – Intimidating the Enemy

by idiotlord



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-17 09:36:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5864080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idiotlord/pseuds/idiotlord
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette invites the class over to her house for a re-match tournament as an apology for ruining and stealing Max’s place at the real tournament. As they make it to her house, Marinette tries avoid any interruptions but failed to give them warnings of a pair of dangerous competitors: Her parents.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gamer Parents – Intimidating the Enemy

"It’s nice of you to invite everyone over for a game day, Marinette." Adrien smiles at her as they lead the group of excited classmates towards the Bakery.

The girl just shrugs and fiddles with her hair nervously. "It’s no problem. You know my parents would like the company and I really need to make it up to Max."

"I’ll have you know, Marinette, that I’ve been training myself after our last match." Max adjusts his glasses with a smirk. "I’ve improved by 65% since then and I’m sure that this time, I’ll be giving you a run for your money."

She returns his smirk with her own. "Oh? And I hope you practiced on your victory dance too cause that’ll be the only time you’ll use it!"

Instead of feeling put down, Max puffs out his chest in pride. "Your trash talk is ineffective to me and my plays.”

She giggles behind her hand. "Heh heh. You’re getting better at ignoring taunts, Max."

"It’s thanks to your advice. After that unfortunate event of my uh-ahem...Akuma-phase, I’ve been taking it better with the help of Kim. And if I want to keep my title as the Best Gamer, I’ll have to get used to trash talk."

Marinette gives him a proud smile and pat his shoulder.

Just as the arrive to the front door, Marinette stops them with a hand and a serious expression. "Okay. Before we go in, you need to get ready."

Her peers blink at her strangely serious tone that’s out of character to her normally bubbly self. They watch as she takes a deep breath and in a low voice says, "Once we go inside, it’ll be safe. But when THEY come in to play, don’t go easy on them. I mean it, show no mercy! They’re ruthless! They’ll try to use every trick in the book and don’t get me started the bribes! The key is to ignore him; he’s all about mental manipulation. But you’ll have to focus on her. She’s the most dangerous one. Never take your eyes off of her!"

She’s close to the point of screaming frantically that her classmates took a step back to look at her with wide eyes. It’s Alya who rolls her eyes and push down on Marinette’s shoulder to keep the small girl from continuing her crazed babble. "Girl, chill! It’s going to be fun, no one’s going to die and all will be good. Okay? Okay."

"Um, what was she talking about?" Adrien bravely asks what everyone wants to know. "Are more people going to come over to play?"

Marinette opens her mouth to reply when the front door suddenly open and a large figure overshadows the group. “Welcome, everyone! Marinette told us your were all coming. Come on up.”

It’s a Friday so like usual it’s busy in the shop with people picking up last minute bread for dinner and pastries that aren’t sold out yet. The small woman behind the counter was packing a box of sweets when she sees them and gives them a quick wave as everyone file inside and up the stairs that connects to the house above little bakery before turning back to work. When they enter the living room, there were already plates of baked snacks and a large pitcher of juice on the table at center in front of the sofa.

“Make yourself at home. If you need anything, just give us a call. I’ll be downstairs helping your mother at the shop.” Tom gives them a warm smile and pecks his daughter on the cheek before going downstairs. 

“Thank you, Papa.” She said, a little surprised. She was expecting them to be more meddling like they were when Adrien first met them but they were actually tamed today. Maybe they were actually considerate today. 

“Yo, Marinette, where’s the games at?”

Turning her attention back to her friends, she helps them set up the game console and starts serving the drinks and snacks. An hour passes by without incident and everyone’s enjoying themselves, laughing to each other as they play or eating the snacks as they wait for their turn. Marinette smiles to herself as she felt herself unwind. Maybe she has been overreacting earlier. Turning to whisper to Alya who’s busy recording Nino’s reaction as he lost once again, that she’ll be in the bathroom for a minute. Her best friend just nod in response as she tries to hold back her giggles at the boy’s expressive facial reactions.

Unknown to Marinette is that the second she exited the living room, two figures were lingering nearby with a tray of baked goods and grins that can be compared to the Cheshire Cat’s. Two new opponents appear. 

“Hey, kids, I hope you’re hungry. We got a batch of our signature cookies hot from the oven!”

 

When Marinette enters the room again a few minutes later, she froze by the doorway at the sight. Damn it, she knew this was going to happen! She was naïve to let her guard down! Trying to hold back from yelling, she plasters a smile on her face as she approaches the group.

“Mama! Papa! What are you doing here?” She asked innocently, her voice is pleasant but from the laughter in her parents’ eyes, she knows that they’ve recognize the hidden annoyance under her words but aren’t afraid. 

“Oh, Marinette, there you are!” her father smiles widely at her and wave a hand over the table which is piled with a miniature mountain of steaming cookies and a large pitcher of milk. “We were worried you kids were low on food so we brought more.”

“Thanks but what about the shop?”

Her mother sends her a sly smile as she easily answers, “We finished ringing up the last customers a while ago and decided to close a little early. You know how slow it gets around this time so I don’t think anyone would complain for one night.”

Marinette felt her brow twitch but retains the smile. “If you want to relax in the living room, we can move my room so we don’t bother you guys-“

“Actually, I invited them to play with us. I hope that’s okay.” She snaps her head towards Adrien who scratches the back of his head sheepishly. “I kind of wanted to see your dad play since last time.”

Biting her lip, she risk as glance to her parents who were wearing very smug smirks on her faces as they each hold their thumbs up in victory because they know they’ve won the silent battle. And that used the fact that she can’t deny Adrien. Internally screaming at her bad luck and poor judgement because they were right about her inability to say no to the accursedly handsome boy.

“N-No! No! It’s-uh no problem at all! A-As long as-um everyone is fine with that! Yeah?” she turns to her peers in hope that they will help her but drop her shoulders in defeat when everyone agreed with letting them stay. Mostly the boys wants to see her father play after Adrien apparently told them how her dad is the one who trained her and since she’s the best in the group, they are very impressed by him. “O-Okay. I guess that’s good with everyone. Heh heh heh ugh.”

She returns to her seat next to Alya again, never looking away from her parents as he father picks up one of the controllers with the boys gathering around him and her mother making small talk with the girls. Sensing her best friend’s tension, Alya turns her attention to her.

“Girl, what is up with you? Chill, your parents are cool. I doubt they’ll try to embarrass you in front of everyone. Or Adrien.” She whispers the last part so no one would hear, trying to reassure the twitchy girl.

But Marinette just shakes her head, her eyes has a strange glazed look as if she’s reliving an event from the past. “No, Alya, you don’t understand. There’s a reason why I never invited you to play games unless it’s in my room. Everyone will always get too scared to come back!”

Before Alya could open her mouth to ask more, a shout of victory rang through the room and they turn back to see her dad doing to exaggerated arms-in-the-air victory pose yelling “Game-Controller Tom, is off the hook!” while her classmates stare slack-jawed at the screen.

This is what she was afraid of. When she was younger, she used to be a little tomboyish and hung out with the boys because of their common interests in videogames. But one day, she invited them to play games at her house. It was okay at the beginning but when her dad interrupted their time by inviting himself to play with them, he ended but beating them all so bad that it scared and traumatized them to the point it had all the boys avoiding her for the rest of the year. It wasn’t because of his large body that frightens them although that was part of it but it was the fact that he keeps beating them that hurt their pride the most. He’s a hardcore gamer and is very competitive to the point that he takes every game seriously and aims to win no matter who the opponent was. Since she’s used to playing and losing to her dad all the time she didn’t know understand how severe the defeat was to her classmates until recently.

“Oh no, it’s already started.” Marinette hisses under her breath. “I better stop this before it goes too far. Papa! Maybe you should-“

A hand shot out, cutting her off. It’s Max. He’s the one that was playing against her father just then and although she knew he’s a better sport after the lose against her, she’s still worried since it’s still too soon and he might still be sensitive. “No, it’s okay.” 

“Max…”

Almost everyone held their breath waiting for his reaction. He looks up and instead of looking sad, he has a small smile on his face and a knowing gleam behind his glasses. He adjusts his frames and straightens up. “I can see now how you became a champion so easily, Marinette.”

The tension suddenly dissipates and everyone let out a laugh in relief. Soon all the boys starts taking turn to battle against her dad, making a declaration that they’ll defeat him. Tom, almost as competitive as his daughter, accepts their challenge with glee. The girls cheer from the side for the boys to win, some joining in in hope of supporting them by giving them time to recover and analyze the older man’s techniques. Unfortunately, it ends up in vain as they were finished off just as quickly as the boys with no mercy.

“Okay, I’m next.” Adrien announces, taking the controller from the defeated Kim who wishes him good luck and taking his seat. “Ready to lose, sir?”

“Ho ho! Brave words but can you back that up, little man?”

A mischievous, cat-like smile meets the grinning mustache grin in challenge. They start to choose their characters: Adrien picks NAD03, the black cat bot with laser green eyes for personal reasons only he knows. Tom pick R203, the gray pentagon-like bot with pink details which is a strangely cute character for a man of his statures but looks can be deceiving as they’ll all soon find out. With their characters picked, fingers ready to move, all eyes are on them now. 

“ **READY. FIGHT.** ”

Instantly the two bots shoots straight at each other and exchange blows and blocks. Punches are met with kicks, dodges back with counters forward, lasers shooting everywhere and shields reflecting them back. And while the physical battle in happening in the screen, a verbal one is happening behind the controllers.

“So how was your day, Adrien? Doing good at school?” Marinette’s father ask innocently, his tone very casual and friendly compared to the brutal attacks his bot is throwing.

With the same tone as him, Adrien responds back with a playful smile. “Today’s great. School was fun. How about you? How’s business going for you, sir?”

“Oh, business is good. Holiday’s coming near so we’ll have to get our seasonal specials ready. You should try some!”

“I’d loved too! Maybe after I win this match.”

“Ha ha ha! Please do! That reminds me, have you tried the cookies yet? It’s best to eat it while it’s still warm.”

“N-Not yet. Maybe later.”

Tom senses a weakness and starts to pick at it. “Go ahead, I insists. This match might take a while. Who knows how many there’ll be left.”

That got a small flinch from the boy but he kept his eyes stubbornly on the screen. “Nino! Can you save me some cookies?”

His friend was in the act of eating said cookie, his hand paused halfway to his mouth. “Huh? Uh, sure?”

Adrien has to bite his lip and tries to ignore his hunger as the older man keeps talking about the cookies. “Our bakery’s cookies are one of out best sellers, you know. We try to make it a little different than others. Unlike most cookies, we made ours crunchy on the outside but extra soft inside. And instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips, we use dark chocolate because the dough is sweet enough to balance the taste. And rather than chips, we actually drizzle out the chocolate in a thin sheet in between the dough so you’ll always taste a bit of everything with each bite.”

Marinette’s dad couldn’t help but chuckle when he heard the boy groan in agony, his shoulders shaking slightly as if trying to hold himself back from jumping onto the table where the cookies are placed neatly in front of him. He hasn’t looked at it yet. “Oh, we also mixed in a few special cookies inside as a surprise.” 

“Oh, you don’t say? What makes them so special?” the teen tries to keep his tone neutral as he tries to keep his bot from being pushed back into the corner.

“There’s chocolate mint chips in them.”

“M-Mint?!”

“Uh-huh. Ah, I think that’s one’s of them there.” Tom nodded vaguely towards the plate which caused Adrien to snap his eyes down on the table for it. A wicked grin spread on his face as he strike. “Gotcha!”

“Oh no!” It was too late when Adrien pulls his attention back to the game as he watch his cat-bot get destroyed and Tom’s bot absorb the EXP which powered him to level 2. The room filled with gasps and jeers as the older man starts to do his signature pose, yelling “Game-Controller Tom, off the hook!”.

It didn’t took long before Round Two starts and the match went on again but this time it’s not so easy. With his opponent two times bigger and stronger than him, all Adrien can do it go on the defensive and try to stay alive as long as he can. All the while listening to the man cheerfully listing out the whole menu of his bakery and the recipes. If Adrien was a rival baker, he would collect all this information and sell it to the nearest bakery for profit. But since he’s not and could barely understand the basic process of baking, all he’s feeling now is hunted and hungry as heck for pastries. 

On the sidelines, Marinette watches in horror as her crush is getting crushed by her dad. And by the familiar twinkle in the older man’s eyes and the model’s sweat-drenched face, she can assume that her dad is up to his no-good trash-talking again. The fighter within her bursts out as she quickly snaps up their spare controllers and quickly enters the code that allows additional players mid-way into the game. Automatically choosing her go-to red and black character, LB03, she quickly jumps in front of Adrien’s cat-bot avatar just before her dad’s silver and pink bot makes contact. She blocks her dad’s attack and counters with her own, pushing him back.

The man gasps and holds out a hand dramatically exclaiming, “Marinette, I am… _your father_!”

“And I am your daughter,” she easily counters back with a glare. “who’s so going to kick _your butt_!”

Just as her avatar shots out getting ready to attack, a flash of gray appears from out of nowhere and a bulky bot with red and purple highlights appears with glowing green eyes. It the heavy-duty bot, IRON who enters the game.

“Who-? Mama?!”

“Oh, I wonder how that got here.” The small woman just giggles behind her hand and raises the other one holding another game controller. “Sorry, dear, but he is my husband.”  
Before Marinette could retort back, the large bot shot out and punches Marinette’s bot. She’s suddenly pushed into a corner and would’ve been trapped if Adrien haven’t appear from behind to hit IRON which gave Marinette enough time to jump away.

“Don’t worry, Marinette, I got your back!” Adrien grins at her and she nearly melts. “Now let’s show them who’s the best team.”

A wide grin spreads on her face as they turn back to the screen with determination. “Yeah, let’s do it!”

 

“Hey, Ladybloggers! This is Alya and I’m here at my girl’s pad giving you the play-by-play with our game-master, Max and our game-noob, Nino!”

“Yo, that’s cold, girl.” Nino remarks on the side which was ignored as Alya turns her camera phone to Max with the TV screen showing the match behind him. “So, Max, what’s the situation now? Any prediction on who’s going to win?”

“Under such conditions that lack any proper research and background checks on the players skill levels, I can’t really give a 100% accurate report of the probabilities of which sides have advantage of which area of their levels in gameplay.” The shorter teen responds bluntly. “However, judging by what I do know so far, it’s going to be a tough match.”

“Excellent! Anything you like to add, Ninoob?”

“Hey! Uncool and uncalled for! And I’m not a noo-”

Suddenly everyone around them are shouting with excitement at what’s happening on the screen behind them. “Oh my! Max, what’s happening?!”

He tugs his glasses closer to his face and absently pulls out his cell phone to automatically do the calculations. “Amazing! Because they are playing tag-team mode, whenever any or each player defeats their opponents and gained enough EXP to reach max level 4, the pairs are able to combine their avatars together to form an ultimate bot that increases not only their health bar but also their attack points And if played correctly and in synced on the combination attacks, they can activate their special abilities that can increase their attack range up to almost triple their average numbers to a one-hit K.O.”

Alya stares at him for a second before turning to Nino. “Translation.”

“Dude means that if they combine their Mechas together to make a super Mecha and click their buttons at the same time, they become Boss.” 

“Incorrect but close in layman’s term, I guess.” Max mutters quietly.

Turning the camera back to her, Alya just grins widely. “You heard it, guys, so in short this match can end quick and painful but the big question that everyone’s asking is: which team is going to do it first? Let’s watch and see!”

 

Out of all the fights he has ever been in throughout the 15 years he’s been alive, this was the most heart-pounding intense one Adrien has even been. It rivals next to his first battle as Chat Noir. Both teams were able to gain enough EXPs to combine into their ultimate forms and while Marinette and Adrien are able to work well together from practice, her parents have telepathy that only married couples seem to possess so their combinations are almost perfect every time. As he tries his best to block each attacks, he flinches when he felt a small breeze by his ear. A light blush warms his cheeks when he realizes Marinette is trying to whisper something to him. 

“We’re not going to win if they use their ultimate attack next.” She whispers softly, eyes never leaving the screen. “They’re charging up while distracting us with far range attacks.”

“Well, what would you suggest?” he yelps as he dodges a missile that was way too close for his comfort.

“I have a plan but…it’s kind of risky.”

“Marinette. We’re stuck on defense, our health is down by half and your parents are 10 seconds from destroying us with an ultimate combo. I don’t think we have anything left to lose. Other than our prides.”

“Good point. Okay, listen.” She whispers the plan quickly into his ear and his eyes widen in horror at the idea. 

“That’s crazy!” he hisses at her but a manic grin on his face. “Let’s do it!”

“Looks like the end of the road, kids.” Tom announces as Team Parents’ power bar is filled up and flashing bright colors, their bot starts to glow with it.

“Any last words, dears?” Sabine smile sweetly at them.

The kids share a look and nod in silent agreement. “Bring it on!”

“You heard them, honey.” 

The adults share their own looks and like a choreographic dance, their fingers move and match on the controllers causing their combined avatar to flash an animated cut scene and shoot straight towards Adrien’s and Marinette’s bot. Almost half a second before their bot reach the other, Marinette shouts “Now!” which made Adrien click a series of buttons and something unpredictable happens. The room is fill with gasps as they watch Adrien’s and Marinette’s ultimate bot suddenly split apart and revert back into two separate avatars they started with.

 

“Max! What’s happening now?!” Alya screech out, shaking the other boy violently.

“I-I don’t b-believe it! T-The broke the f-fusion!” Max breaks away from the girl’s hold to adjust his glasses and clothes before explaining, “Rather than taking the full attack head on, they choose to split the quantity over quality route. Although by doing so, their attacks and health points are reduced by half, they have gain the advantage of evasive maneuvers and breaking down their opponent’s healthy little at a time. And if they play their cards right and survive, they can switch roles over from one attacking while the other one is distracting and vice versa. It’s genius!”

“Nino!” Turning back to the other laid back boy, she motions her hand in a familiar signal to ‘translate’.  
He just shrugs. “Basically he’s saying that instead of a one-on-one super bot versus super bot, it’s now a two-against one. Marinette and Adrien might not be strong as Papa-Mama team but they’re slick enough to try to bring them down slowly by the ankles.”

“However, they’re still in danger.” Max adds in with concern, watching the fight anxiously. “Now that they are in such a weaker state, one hit from the ultimate bot – combo attack or otherwise – can be an instant kill for both of them.” 

“You heard them, folks! Will they be able to hold it together or will they lose all here with a punch? Let’s find out!”

 

Things are looking really close to call. Although Adrien and Marinette are able to hold up against the rapid attacks, swapping roles and attacking as much as they can at any small opening they could find or make. There were some close calls when the black cat bot is near death from jumping into attacks that were aimed for Marinette’s bot but luckily, she has enough health to be able to pass some of her points back to him. And Adrien’s able to dodge and taunt enough to get her dad’s attention on him while the red and black spotted bot throw series of combo attacks from the back.

It was one miss click that caused the final blow and end the game once and for all. 

“Oh no!”

“It’s the end!”

“Ha ha ha! You’re mine!”

“Ah! Not so fast!”

There’s a moment of silence as the screen goes black as it registers the results and prepares to show the winners.

“ **VICTORY… ADRIEN & MARINETTE!**”

Jumping up, the two teens grab onto each other in a tight hug and jump slightly, so happy with the victory after so much trials. It wasn’t until Alya clears her throat loudly with a raised brow, camera still in hand recording them, did they noticed their position and quickly pull away from each other. They look away and laugh in embarrassment with tints of red on their cheeks. After a couple seconds of awkwardness, they faced each other again and grin, holding up a hand to give each other a high-five. Then they turn back to her parents, both ready to rub in the victory. 

“Game-Controller Marinette-”  
“And Game-Controller Adrien-”

“-are off the hook!” They both flex and pose back to back grandiosely with arms up and fingers pointed like pistols at the adults. 

“Nooo!” the man yells out dramatically, falling back onto the sofa with an exaggerated grunt like a bear while holding his heart and eyes. “I’ve been defeated! Sabine, my love, I have failed you! Tell our daughter… she’s… grounded.”

“Papa.”

“Ooh… two weeks… behind the register…”

“Papa!”

“Sorry, can’t hear you… I’m dead... ooh… Also clean your room.”

“PAPA!” she whines in annoyance as all her friends just laugh at the display.

 

“And that’s the end of it. My girl and boy just obliterate Team OG, taking the title of Master Gamers! Thanks again Game Master Max and Ninoob for joining us on the side. (“Girl, you’re hurting me right here. See these tears?”). This is your homegirl, Alya, signing off!”

  
The sun was just setting and it’s almost dark when the group makes their way down the stairs to the exit, calling out their thanks and goodbyes to Marientte’s parents before heading home. Trailing behind them, Marinette makes sure that everyone have all their things and no one is missing. When they’re outside and out of her parents’ sight, she choose to tell them then. Rubbing her elbow nervously, she gave them an apologetic smile. “Um, sorry about my parents. They’re really invasive and uh…a little too into games.”

“It’s not a big deal, Marinette, parents are like that all the time.” Alya reassures her again. “At least you don’t have a bunch of little brothers and sisters pestering you.”

“Yeah. At least you’re parents are cool.” Alix agrees. “Wish my dad would be into things other than boring history.”

“I’d prefer that to embarrassing baby pictures.” Someone murmurs under their breath.

“Tell me about it.” Some shudder at the thought while others laugh.

“But we’re definitely having another rematch! Let us know when you’re setting up another party, Marinette.” Kim pumps his fist in excitement. The rest of the boys join in with gusto. Even Max is slightly buzzing beside him. “I’ve learned a lot today so I’ll be sure to be ready next time for sure.”

“Yes, Please do! Your mom was telling us about showing us how to bake and decorate sweets too.” Rose adds eagerly. “And maybe even taking some home too!”

Marinette is slightly taken back by their positive responses that she didn’t know what to say until she felt a nudge to her side by her best friend before bursting into a wide smile and nods happily. “Y-Yes! Definitely! I mean-Sure, I’ll text you all after I ask my parents.”

“Great! Well, thanks again, Marinette. It’s been fun.” Adrien gives her one last pat on the shoulder before heading home, holding tightly on the paper bag filled with cookies that Nino protected for him. “See you at school.”

Everyone says their good-byes and parted on their separate ways in a good mood after exchanging their contact information. Waving back, Marinette waits until she can’t see anyone before going back inside and locking the door. She leans her back heavily against the door, her body exhausted from a day of excitement, worry and happiness from Adrien and her friends. But mostly Adrien. She sighs dreamily and touches the shoulder he patted.

“Is everyone gone?” her mother’s voice brought her back from her thoughts. “I hope they enjoyed themselves.”

“Yeah.” Giving her a bright smile, she runs up to the small woman to throw her arms around her and kiss her cheek. “Thank you, Mama. I love you.”

When her father appears behind her, she repeats the same action to him before running up to her room giggling all the way. “Thank you, Papa. Love you!”

The pair of adults share a knowing look and grin as they walk to the back of the store where the bakery kitchen resides and begin working on prepping their daily ingredients and specials for the next day. They work in comfortable silence and practiced movements of mixing bowls and baking pans. 

“You were holding back today, dear.” Sabine comments while she prepares tomorrow’s orders.

“Was I?” He focuses on kneading the dough that he’ll leave to rise overnight to bake in the morning. “Hmm…maybe I’m getting old.”

She just hum but say nothing as she cuts up the fruits into groups and place them into individual glass jars. When all are cut up and the jars are filled, she walks to the sink to wash her hands. She pause to stand on her toes and give her husband a small peck on his cheek. “Thank you. I know Marinette really appreciates it. Especially after what happened last time.”

Tom finally turns to look at her with a pout, his cheeks warms into a dark red from where she kissed him. “She was too young to be thinking about boys.”

His wife chuckles and kisses him again on his pouty lips. “They were only playing, dear.”

“You don’t know how boys are. And my daughter’s a very cute girl!”

“So it’s okay for her to be dating now?”

“Who says anything about dating?” he huffs but smiles widely. “But Adrien is a nice boy.”

“Yes, he is. There’s hope for those two yet.”

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by "Le Gamer" episode and want to emphasized her family's hardcore gaming. Thanks for reading!


End file.
